title: Paratuberculosis in European wild rabbits from the Iberian Peninsula.
abstract: Of the non-ruminant wildlife species known to harbor Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis (MAP), the rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is thought to pose the greatest risk of transmission to cattle. We analyzed 80 hunter-harvested wild rabbits from a core study area in southern Spain, and sera from 157 wild rabbits sampled opportunistically on seven additional sites. Gross lesions compatible with paratuberculosis were observed in two of 80 necropsied rabbits. Histopathology revealed focal to diffuse multibacillary MAP-compatible lesions in 8 of 10 rabbits examined. Presence of MAP was confirmed in one rabbit with gross lesions by positive amplification curves for both IS900 and ISMAP02. However, no isolate was obtained from 47 samples by culture. We adapted an indirect ELISA for the detection of MAP antibodies. At the established cut-off of 0.5, 6 of 237 wild rabbit sera (2.5%) yielded a positive ELISA result. Antibodies were detected in rabbits from 3 of 8 sampling sites. Considering the increasing relevance of MAP infection for animal health, these results open a challenging field for future research.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos IREC, CSIC - UCLM - JCCM, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain.
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Maio
authors.forename: Tania
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Carta
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Balseiro
authors.forename: Iker A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Sevilla
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Romano
authors.forename: José Antonio
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Ortiz
authors.forename: Madalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vieira-Pinto
authors.forename: Joseba M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Garrido
authors.forename: Jose Manuel Pérez
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: de la Lastra
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gortázar
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000662:veterinary; D005260:Female; D016927:Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010283:Paratuberculosis / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D011174:Portugal / Q000453:epidemiology; D011817:Rabbits; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial